


Rusty Old Bolt

by shiptoomuch



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Engineer!Jim, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 12:39:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3610404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiptoomuch/pseuds/shiptoomuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim leans forward to rest his elbows on the table.“My point, Captain Pike,” Jim starts with a slight smirk. “Is that I’m not my <em>father’s</em> son.”</p><p>Pike smiles faintly. “No, you’re not. You’re your mother’s.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rusty Old Bolt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saintsurvivor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintsurvivor/gifts).



> a thing i've been working on for far too long

When Jim meets Christopher Pike, he’s got calloused hands and a burn on his wrist from earlier that morning. He’s picking at the blisters on his fingers that he knows he shouldn’t but he cannot bring himself to look Chris in the eye.

The guy is talking about Jim’s father, and it makes his stomach turn. The look in his eyes says that he expects Jim to be the same as he was. Jim frowns at the table and bites his tongue to keep back the Davis temper that he knows runs through his veins.

“Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes-“ Chris starts and Jim has to stop that train of thought right there because there are certainly expectations that he cannot and will not live up to.

“My mother has been an engineer for almost thirty years.” He says confidently. Chris looks surprised.

“What’s your point?” Pike looks at Jim like he’s seeing him for the first time, like he’s actually interested now.

Jim leans forward to rest his elbows on the table.“My point, Captain Pike,” Jim starts with a slight smirk. “Is that I’m not my _father’s_ son.”

Pike leans back to counter Jim’s movement and looks Jim over. Pike’s eyes land on Jim’s hands, which he spreads out and wiggles as if to say _see?_

Pike smiles faintly. “No, you’re not. You’re your mother’s.”

Jim smirks and shrugs. “Winona Kirk was never as much of a failure as the papers painted her to be.”

“No, I don’t suppose she was.” Pike concedes. “Enlist in Starfleet. Make her proud.”

“I’m afraid you never knew her very well if you think that would make her proud.” Jim scoffs and leans back in his chair once more. He doesn’t stare at his hands this time but instead has more of an ease about himself. He snatches his empty glass off of the table and waves it toward the waiter, wherever he is. “Can I get another?”

“The shuttle for new recruits leaves the shipyard tomorrow at 0800.” Pike states matter-of-factly. “Your mother is teaching a few lectures at the academy. Maybe she’ll be happy to see you there.”

-

The first time Leonard meets Jim, the kid reeks of booze, blood, and command track cockiness. He does, however, consider the fact that the booze smell might not be Jim at all. “I may throw up on you.” Len growls out between his teeth.

He’s a bit surprised when Jim smiles at that. “I think these things are pretty safe.”

Leo scoffs. “Don't pander to me, kid. One tiny crack in the hull, and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles. See if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding!”

Another smile from blond-and-too-cute. “Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space.”

Leonard’s stomach turns at the prospect of it all. “Yeah, well, I got no where else to go. The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I got left is my bones.” He grits out, ignoring the churning in his gut.

“Jim Kirk.” Is a third grin that is far too bright for the battered state of the kid’s face.

“McCoy, Leonard McCoy.” He holds his flask out to Jim. Making friends can’t hurt too much. “So, Kirk, you goin’ in for command?”

Jim barks out a laugh and takes a gulp from the flask. He shakes his head. “Nah, man. Despite what everyone expects from me, I’m no captain.”

“So what are you here for, then?” Leonard raises and eyebrow.

Jim’s eyes dart over to the row of perfectly pressed cadets. Two of them in particular are actually glaring at him. “Engineering. Which is why I know you shouldn’t be scared of dying in this thing.” He pats the beam next to him. “And I assume you’re medical, Bones.”

Leo takes his flask back and frowns slightly. “It would seem that you’re not the only one who gets false assumptions made about them, kid.”

“Bones, the first thing you talked to me about was all the ways we could die.” Jim levels him with a look that basically dares Leonard to challenge him. “Tell me you’re not a doctor.”

Leo grunts and shrugs noncommittally. “Well, my Dad was a doctor. I was in medical school up until about three months ago.” He catches Jim’s triumphant look and holds up a finger. “ _But_ I dropped out. It’s not where I should be. I was going because that’s what every McCoy has done since the beginning of time.”

“And now you’re here.” Jim says. “What _are_ you doing here?”

“Command.” Leo answers. “Thought I might have a friend in you, but apparently you’re going against your own family name.”

“I mean, not totally. My mom’s an engineer.” Jim explains in some sort of weak defense of his choices. “Wait…aren’t you aviophobic?”

Leonard laughs and waves Jim off with the flask. “Only in rustbuckets like this. Had a bit of a spat with the current pilot over whether it was actually safe to take off when the shuttle is definitely over five years old and looks like it hasn’t been touched by a mechanic since then.”

Jim laughs out loud and claps Leonard on the shoulder. “Oh, Bones, we’re going to be great friends.”

“Bones?”

-

Meeting Winona Kirk for the first time is one of the most terrifying experiences of Leo’s life. He’s read the reports and papers on the Kelvin and George Kirk The Hero, but not a single one of them ever painted his wife as what she truly is.

Abso-fucking-lutely intimidating. Jim dragged Leo to the engineering lecture she’s giving for support or whatever it is he was blathering on about when Leo was still half asleep.

Three cups of coffee and two crying engineers later, Leo regrets all of his decisions and sort of fears for his life. Jim’s sitting with his head buried in a notebook scribbling furiously. Leo suspects that he’s less taking notes and more hiding from his mother.

“You, cadet with the brown hair and a scowl sitting in the back. Whatis the appropriate course of action in this sort of engine failure?” Winona is pointing directly at Leo expectantly. 

Leo looks at the board and around himself for some support, but is only met with the top of Jim’s head and a bunch of stares from equally terrified cadets. “Uh, I...I’m actually not an engineer.”

“Name?”

“Leonard McCoy.” He says with much less pride than he normally does.

“And why are you here, Leonard McCoy?” She’s got one hand on her hip and a glare that could kill him seven times over. “This is a special seminar for engineering cadets and I really don’t see a reason for you to be here.”

Leonard wracks his brain for an answer, he really does. But an answer beside “your son dragged me here with promises of coffee” does not come to mind and he’s fairly certain his friend would not appreciate that. He opens and closes his mouth, absolutely sure he looks like a fish. “Well, I-“

“He’s here with me, Mom.” Jim, like some sort of knight in shining armor, finally stands and answers. His shoulders are back and his jaw is set rigidly but Leo can see some sort of fear or…something in his eyes. 

Anything that Leo might see on Jim’s face is nothing compared to the shock present on Winona’s. Leo could swear she actually takes a half step back. “James Tiberius Kirk what the hell are _you_ doing here?”

There’s a moment’s pause and some idiot coughs. Winona glances down at her chrono and frowns. “Alright. There’s only ten minutes left, so I’m just going to let you all go early. Go on, get out.” She waves her arms. “Not you, Jim.”

Leo figures she didn’t say his name, so he can leave. He turns to leave but there’s a certain set of nails digging into his wrist that keeps him from making his grand escape. He honestly wishes he had more resolve than he does when it comes to Jim but he knows there’s nothing he can do. He slumps a bit in resignation. 

When the lecture hall is finally empty, Jim and Leo are still standing in the back row of seats and Winona is standing at the front of the room shuffling through papers. Jim’s hand is still locked around Leo’s wrist.

It’s Winona who finally breaks the silence. “It’s nice to see you, Jim.” Her tone has transformed from hardened Starfleet officer to mother in a matter of seconds and it takes Leo off guard. “Nobody told me you were here.”

Jim shrugs and smiles. “Yeah, well, it’s only been a week. Haven’t had time to call.”

Winona stops shuffling papers and purses her lips. She sets Jim straight with a glare that is much different from the others she’d been giving the class. “You couldn’t find two seconds to even send your mother a message?”

“She does make a good point.” 

“Shut up, Bones.” Jim scoffs and releases Leo’s wrist. “You’re supposed to be on _my side,_ remember?”

Leo rolls his eyes and rubs at his wrist. “I’m not gonna take your side if you’re being a damn fool.”

Winona grins. “Oh, I like him.” She states. “Come on up here and help me with my stuff, boys.”

Jim reminds Leo of a petulant six year old following his mother’s orders as they make their way up to the front. Winona hands them each a stack of papers. “Here, start alphabetizing.” 

“Don’t you have TAs for this shit?” Jim whines.

“What? You don’t want to spend some quality time with your mother?” She smirks at Jim and hands him even more papers. “And watch your language, James.”

-

“Geez, why can’t a guy get any nepotism around here?” Jim groans and flops backwards on Leo’s bed. He has grease smeared across his forehead and what looks to be a brand new burn on his forearm. He sticks it in Leo’s face. “Do you have a cream for this?”

Leo rolls his eyes and shoves Jim’s arm away, careful not to touch the actual burned area. “Kid, you know we do and you know where we keep it. Go get it for yourself.”

“Ugh, you suck.” Jim groans and rolls off the bed onto his feet. He ruffles his own hair and manages to smear the grease even more across his face. Leo tries to keep himself from eyeing Jim’s ass but he fails rather spectacularly.

“How’d you get the burn?” Leo asks with a mock casual tone while he scrolls aimlessly through his padd. He normally studies harder than this but he took this class before when he was eighteen years old and it’s all essentially review at this point.

“Had to spend all night in the lab, as you know, because my mom doesn’t believe in giving me a better time even though I’m her _son_.” Jim sounds appropriately spiteful. “So I fell asleep a little bit-just for _second_ -and this guy manages to drip hot grease from the whatever it was he was working on directly onto my arm.” 

Jim comes out of the bathroom a moment later, face screwed up while he tries to get the cap off of the burn cream. “Why does this thing hate me so much?”

“Give it here, infant.” Leo holds out his hand without looking up from his padd. He catches the thrown bottle with ease and pops the lid off. “Come on.” He waves Jim over.

The look on Jim’s face when he realizes that Leo is actually going to be nice to him (when is he ever not? The kid should not be this surprised.) would be priceless if he didn’t scramble on the bed right afterwards. The burn is once again in Leo’s face. “Fix me, Bones.”

“I don’t think I’m exactly qualified to do that, and we really don’t have time.” Leo jokes while he spreads the cream across the red area. “Unless you were just talking about the burn?”

“Fuck you.” Jim hisses through clenched teeth. “Fuck, that hurts worse than getting the actual burn.”

Leonard waits a few seconds for the coolness of the cream to kick in and for Jim to say, “Oh, that’s nice.” Just like he always does. Leo rolls his eyes just like he always does and grabs one of the large bandages from his table drawer. 

“You’re a miracle worker, Bones. Marry me.” Jim grins and laughs through the statement that makes Leo’s stomach flip more than he would like to admit. “And you should really reconsider that whole command track thing cuz you rock the medical.”

“Infant.”

-

“Commander Spock picked me to help him on the Kobayashi Maru.” Jim says one day when he bounces in after a full day of classes and Leo’s got time off. “He usually picks a fourth year.”

“With your credit hours, you’re basically a fourth year, Jim.” Leo responds, still reading his book. “And you’re the least idiotic one in there. Makes sense.”

Jim grins up at Leo and pulls the book out of his hands gently. “I’ve always dreamed of being the least idiotic, Bones. Thank you.” He sets the book on the table with the place marked. “Seriously, though, this is huge.” He lays his head down on Bones’ lap and grins up at him. 

“I know, Jim. Congratulations.” Leo leans down and kisses Jim’s forehead. “I’m proud of you.”

Jim freezes once Bones pulls away and his blue eyes go wide. “Bones?” He sits up again to face him.

Bones blushes deep red and looks down at his lap. “Can we call it an accident and put this whole thing behind us?”

“Is that what you really want?” Jim asks timidly and reaches out to take one of Leonard’s hands in both of his own. “Really?”

Bones shakes his head and Jim grins wider than he ever thought possible. “Awesome. That’s awesome.” Jim says excitedly. “Really awesome.”

A raised eyebrow is pointed in Jim’s direction and Bones doesn’t want to, but he has to ask, “Jim, is what I think you’re saying what you’re _actually_ saying?”

Half a second and then Jim’s got his lips against Bones’ and hands clenched in his black shirt. 

-

“I think you should take the Maru again.” Jim says definitively and Leo glares at him.

“Why? I failed the first time, but like everyone does. You’re not supposed to do it again.” Leo argues back.

Jim ducks out from under his arm and pouts. “Yeah, but taking it again can raise your score. You can learn more. It’ll be great.”

“If I say yes, will you shut up?” Leo is mostly joking when he says it.

“Yes.” Jim, apparently, is terrible at picking up on jokes.

-

“After serious investigation, Mr. Kirk, we have come to the conclusion that you acted alone and that Cadet McCoy was merely a victim in your reckless behavior.” That damn Vulcan sounds almost sad behind his inextinguishable smugness.

Jim doesn’t back down, the idiot. “The test is a cheat and you know it, Spock.”

“You of all people should understand the purpose of a captain experiencing fear in the face of a no-win scenario.”

Bones holds his breath and watches Jim bristle and harden right in front of everyone. “I, of all people?”

“Yes, considering who your father is, you should know how important a test such as this is.”

And really at this point, only a distress call from Vulcan could stop Jim from blowing up like Leo knows he was about to.

-

Jim knew that getting Chekov to smuggle him onboard the Enterprise was definitely a bad idea before he did it. He knew that Spock would never let him get away with stowing away and that Bones would only give him that disappointed look that he gives Jim when he forgets to pick up his socks.

He knew all this. 

What he didn’t know was that he would end up stranded on an ice planet with an older Spock from an alternate universe and a shocking number of creatures that can kill him. 

“Where are we going?” Jim asks for what feels like the millionth time. 

Old Spock answers once again, “Patience never has been your strong suit, James.”

They finally reach a large metal door that Spock pulls open without a problem but which Jim has to throw all of his body weight against to pull shut. 

“A dirty hallway?” Jim asks incredulously. “I’m not entirely sure this is better than that cave.”

Spock turns around and shoots Jim one of the most annoyed looks that he’s ever seen on a Vulcan, considering that he’s never seen any actual emotion on a Vulcan before. “Things in this universe are different than in my own, as we have already discussed. I am…improvising.”

Before Jim can question whether or not they’ll actually be able to pull this off, an alien that cannot be more than four feet tall and that looks far angrier than anything should. He waves them along down the hall after him.

Jim isn’t entirely sure they have a choice, so he shrugs at Spock and goes along. Sitting in a chair in the large room they’re led to is someone Jim never ever thought he’d meet.

“Doctor Montgomery Scott!” He manages to keep his voice from going up five octaves when he exclaims his name. “Your theories have inspired so much of the work I’m doing right now!”

The sandy haired man looks up from the manual he was reading and raises an eyebrow at Jim. “Well, would ya mind telling Starfleet that? Cuz they’ve had me stranded here for months.” He resumes his reading once more without a second glance at Jim.

“ _Doctor_ Scott?” Spock asks Jim with the raised eyebrow that doesn’t seem to ever go down.

Jim nods enthusiastically and gestures grandly to Scott. “Montgomery Scott, one of the best astrophysicists in the federation. His research is _amazing._ A lot of the work I’ve been doing on transwarp beaming has been based on his papers.”

“You and me both, lad.” Scott says without looking up from his book. “Which is exactly how I ended up here. May or may not have made an Admiral’s beagle disappear.”

“Really? It just disappeared? Are you sure you compensated for-“ Jim starts off excitedly but is cut off by Spock clearing his throat. “Nevermind.”

“I have the equation for transwarp beaming.” Spock says and holds up a memory chip. “I believe it will come in handy.”

“Really?” Comes Jim and Montgomery’s excited twin response.

-

When it’s all said and done, Leonard’s got more phaser burns than ever before in his life and he doesn’t even care. 

What he does care about is Jim sitting on that biobed with Chekov buzzing about and bandaging up his wounds. There are a few bruises from Spock and Nero on his neck that turn Leo’s stomach. “Hey, kid, don’t forget to run the regen over all those scrapes. I want him in ship shape.”

“Yes, Leonard-er-Keptain.” Chekov salutes him minutely and turns back to Jim again.

Once he’s finished being bandaged and fixed up, Jim pushes himself off the bed. He steps close to Leo and cradles his face in his hands carefully. Leo can practically feel himself being checked over for his own scrapes. “Captain McCoy.” Jim says thoughtfully, a grin playing across his face. “You know, I think I like the sound of that.”

“I hope you like the sound of Chief Engineer Kirk as well.” Leo responds. “Cuz I’m not going on any sort of mission unless you’re there too.”

Jim screws up his face in consideration and waits just long enough to make Leonard panic. A grin crosses Jim’s face before he can reach the peak of it, though. “Yeah, I think I can swing that.”

-

“Captain McCoy? You’re needed down in engineering. It’s an emergency.” Some rather scared looking ensign approaches the chair with a clipboard clutched to their chest. “It’s Kirk.”

Leo is up out of the chair much fast than he’d like anyone to see. “What is it? What happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” They admit bashfully. “You should probably just go see.”

Running through the halls of the enterprise isn’t his favorite pastime, but being in a relationship with Jim for almost six years has its consequences. Emergencies down in engineering being one of them. A few startled officers stand to the side when he dashes past. 

Oddly enough, no one has anything to say to him and a few of them smile at each other like they’re not telling him something. 

He makes it down to Engineering faster than Leo thinks any Starfleet captain has before. (He should really check on that, considering how often he has to do this.) And skids around the corner to wear he’s being pointed by various nervous engineers. 

What he’s met with is not what he’s expecting at all.

“Our mission is almost over and I just got a message saying they’re thinking about transferring me to the Farragut to serve under Uhura.” Jim starts off with a grin. “And I tried to fight it, I really did, but they told me I had no reason to stay. I told them about you but you know how those bureaucratic types are.”

Leonard starts. “I’ll fight them, Jim. You don’t have to worry about being transferred if that’s not what you want.” He pauses at Jim’s smile and shaking head. “Wait…do you _want_ to be transferred?”

“What? God no!” Jim assures him with a smile. “No, what I want is something way better than that.”

“What are you doing?” Is probably not the most romantic thing to say when your boyfriend is getting down on one knee.

“What I’m doing is what I should have done when you were first made captain.” Jim says with a grin. “There’s way too much that we leave up to chance but I don’t want to leave us being together up to chance. So…will you marry me, Bones?” He holds up a dull silver ring.

“Is that made from a nut?” Once again, Leo is oh so romantic in the face of being proposed to.

“From the shuttle we met on.” Jim says with a grin. “I know a lot of people who owe me a lot of favors.” He holds the ring a little bit higher and smiles up at Bones nervously. “So…is that a yes? Or is this really embarrassing?”

“It’s a yes, idiot.” Leonard holds out a hand to help Jim up. “I’ll even wear your old rusty bolt.”

**Author's Note:**

> feedback super appreciated!  
> tumblr: fabtrek


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